Another Iceage from my time at SIRIUS Sat/Rad Radio. Iceberg 95 played 100% Canadian Music, but when it came to the classic stuff, we got stuck with the usual Burton, Randy, Bryan, and Hip, so I started a weekly one hour specialty show to feature more than just the usual suspects. It also allowed me to play new artists we started to overlook after the incredible Liz Janik was replaced as Our Leader by a corporate FM guy.

Well, the show was not half bad. There were no cringe-worthy duets, the pace was pretty quick, the set looked good, there was no blatant pimping of other CTV properties and, for the most part, the performances were pretty good. The one major complaint I have is they need to go a little simpler on the camera work. There is no need for the 360 shot, followed by the zoom out, followed by the zoom in followed by the reverse 360 shot. Keep it simple. Focus on the performance, cut away for the solo (of there is anyone actually playing a solo), and then, come back to the performance. I don’t need to see crowd shots of people watching the show through their smart phones. Also, the annoying Google Play commercials reminded me of why I can’t stand karaoke.

This is a slightly revised column from November of 2011. Thought I would share it with you gain because, well…even though I am supposed to be taking the week off, I’m not, so there will be a couple of new posts here later this week while the rest of the crew takes some much needed (and deserved) time off. Have a safe and happy Canada Day…I love you all. And yes…this IS the Greatest Country in the World…even if some of us don’t know it.

Having lived in Canada for the past 39 years (my 40th anniversary here is next November) I proudly call myself a Canarican even though, truth be told, I am more Canadian in a lot of ways than most. A transplant from the lower 48 who moved here with the band I was in (The Wackers) solely on the basis of how much great music you could hear regardless of where you went or what kind of music you liked, how many places there were to play, Montreal radio and media’s acceptance of our music, and how wonderfully audiences reacted to our shows. It didn’t occur to me at the time that part of that acceptance was because we were from the U.S, specifically California, and that (in some mysterious, and completely goofball way) we were believed to be ‘better’ than our local counterparts. Say hello to The Great Canadian Insecurity Complex, boys and girls.